Frog, Giant Waxy Tree

Phyllomedusa bicolor

This frog has a slim body with a rounded snout, slender legs with toes and fingers having small adhesive discs for climbing when necessary. The frog is less than two inches long. It has no teeth.

Its color, bright blue with black dots on its back and a light blue stomach, alerts potential predators that its skin holds a poisonous liquid which is unpleasant to the taste. The alkaloid poisons are capable of paralyzing and even killing predators.

They have four toes per foot, each with a wide, flattened tip and a suction cup pad to help grip. Males and females appear quite similar.

Diet

These frogs are active during the day, foraging in the leaf litter for their food. They move in short hops and are rarely still for more than a few moments. These frogs are solitary except for fighting and breeding. They are territorial, and will dispute their territory by have “wrestling matches.”

Mating is done during the rainy season by amplexus in which the male clasps the female while she lays her four to six eggs. He fertilizes these immediately after they are expelled before the jelly that surrounds them swells. All eggs are laid on the ground and are guarded by the parents until they become larvae. The male then attaches the larvae to his back by a mucous secretion and carries them to a small pool of water. Here they develop into tadpoles and eventually into frogs through metamorphosis. (Females have been observed fighting aggressively over males, the winner then begins the courtship.)

Gestation: Incubation: 7-10 days

Litter: Clutch size: up to 350 eggs

These frogs may be able to aid in the development of medications that would alleviate the symptoms of Alzheimer's, depression and other brain disorders.

Many Amazonian people refer to this frog as 'sapo mono' which translates to monkey frog.